HDFC Bank denies charges, says will vigorously fight US class action suits

Lender expects its response to be due in early 2021, says there is no matter currently that requires disclosure

Private sector lender HDFC Bank on Monday denied allegations of any wrongdoing in its lending practices and said it would vigorously defend itself against the lawsuit filed in the US. 

According to a source, the statement pertains to a lawsuit filed by US-based law firm Pomerantz, whereas two other firms — Rosen Law Firm and Schall Law — have already announced that they would be filing suits against the bank. However, they have not filed the suits yet. 

The class action lawsuits alleges the bank gave misleading public statements and for failing to inform the investors about the bank’s improper internal controls on lending practices in its vehicle-financing operations.

“The lawsuit, which was filed by a single small security holder, who seeks to represent a class of the bank’s security holders, is based on allegations that the security holder claims caused a temporary decline in the bank’s ADR stock price in July 2020. The bank denies the allegations and intends to defend itself vigorously in the lawsuit,” it said in a filing with exchanges.  

The bank said it expects its response to the lawsuit to be due in early 2021. “Since the lawsuit is at a premature stage, there is no matter at this point of time which requires disclosure,” it said. 

The lawsuit has named outgoing Managing Director Aditya Puri, CEO-designate Sashidhar Jagdishan, and Company Secretary Santosh Haldankar as ‘individual defendants’ and collectively, with the bank, as ‘defendants’.